16 October

Dear friends

We don’t often talk about money – especially not when it is about giving to the church. And often for good reason. Perhaps, like me, you have been part of a church community in the past where that was all they spoke about. Accompanied by the regular emotionally manipulative charges, these messages often leave a bitter taste in our mouths and a guilty feeling in our hearts. 

When the Bible speaks about money, especially in relation to giving to the community, it does so from a far more redemptive place. All things belong to God, we read on the first pages of the Bible. It doesn’t start from a place of managing limited resources. Instead, from the start, the Bible underlines the generosity and abundance of God. It is exactly because God gives so abundantly that we are called to manage these resources responsibly and for the benefit of all.

I love the stories about the construction of the tent of meeting in Exodus. In Exodus 35:21 we read: “And they came, everyone whose heart was stirred, and everyone whose spirit was willing, and brought the Lord’s offering to be used for the tent of meeting.” Imagine we start our conversation on giving from this place – the place where our hearts are stirred by the spirit to give generously what we can. In this story, Moses is asking the people to give towards the building of the central place of worship for the Israelite community, but he doesn’t just give them a list of costs. Instead, he makes an appeal to their hearts to support the future worship of God. This remains an important lesson for us today: we give because we feel our hearts being stirred by the spirit. Giving is a matter of the heart and not a matter of guilt, shame, or even simple obligation. 

A good minister friend of mine retitled the moment in the liturgy when the offering is collected in their church. Instead of including the regular title “The Offering”, their church changed it to “Heart Transplant”. Their idea was that in this moment of giving, we realign our loves – our love for money, our love for luxury and comfort, our love for ourselves and so on – to reflect our ultimate love for God. That seems about right. When we give, we are realigning our hearts. 

On Thursday evening we had a consistory meeting and saw yet again that we are operating at a deficit this year, which is only growing. The clear message from the consistory was that we should speak about giving more often, and without guilt. And so, may I make an appeal to your heart today? Consider giving regularly and faithfully to our church. It may be true that there are many “heart” reasons that might make us want to give to the church. For some, it is about supporting our faith community; others might feel passionate about the historicity of our church, the upkeep of the building and so on; and still others might want to support the mission and social impact of the church. Whether you do it as a spiritual response to faith, as a way to make a difference in our community, or because you care about what the church is doing in the world, we would love and need your support. If you would like to give on a more regular basis, please do not hesitate to start the conversation with me (minister@erc.amsterdam) or our treasurer, Charles Vanderpuye (charles.vanderpuye@erc.amsterdam). 

With thankfulness

Marius